4 men abduct Ola driver, force his wife to strip on video call in Bengaluru

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Dec. 03: An Ola driver in Bengaluru encountered the worst ride of his life on Friday (November 30) after he accepted a booking from Adugodi to Dommasandra.

Four men who boarded Somashekhar’s cab not only abducted him but also assaulted and robbed him. The unidentified assailants allegedly video-called his wife and took screenshots after asking her to strip.

Assaulted multiple times

It all started when Somashekhar received a booking at around 10.20 pm on Friday. Just minutes before reaching the destination, the four unidentified men told him to drive further towards their home.

As soon as the taxi reached an isolated place, the four passengers pounced on him, beat him up and snatched away his car keys. The driver was later tied to the back seat of the car.

After a while the assailants stopped near burial ground at Ramanagara, assaulted him and demanded money. The driver gave the gang Rs 29,000 in total (Rs 9,000 cash and Rs 20,000 Paytm).

Forced to strip

Despite robbing the driver, the miscreants were not in the mood to let him go. The unidentified men allegedly took him to another isolated place where they asked him to video call his wife.

They instructed the driver to ask his wife to strip but assaulted him again when his wife denied. This forced the woman to strip during the call and the gang allegedly took screenshots of the same.

Later, the driver was taken to a lodge from where he managed to escape on the pretext of going to the bathroom. Somashekhar then reached Adugodi Police Station and filed a complaint.

A case has been registered by the police station for alleged blackmail, assault and also for outraging the modesty of a woman.

Issuing a statement on the matter, Ola said: "This is an extremely unfortunate incident and we deeply regret the harrowing experience the driver-partner and his family have allegedly been put through."

"We strongly condemn such acts of assault and have blacklisted the customer’s Ola account immediately on the complaint being registered with us. We are in touch with the driver-partner to extend support to him, and have been assisting the investigating authorities with all necessary information," it added.